Big day for John Key in Jakarta

A big day for John Key today as he meets with Indonesian President Susilo Yudhoyona and other politicians.

It's his last day in Jakarta - he heads to Singapore tomorrow.

After a day of shaking hands and pushing deals, John Key was welcomed to a gala dinner.

Today it's back to politics after a day of business.

Mr Key and the delegation will be greeted with a ceremony full of pomp when they are welcomed to the state palace, ahead of talks with one of the most powerful men in Indonesia and his deputy.

Top of the agenda, he'll be pushing to lift tariffs on our beef.

The average Indonesian eats an average of just two kilos of beef a year – and John Key wants them tucking in to a lot more.

But there are issues with getting our beef into Indonesia.

The country is protective of its own industry, despite the average farmer only having three cows.

Mr Key says officials are working hard on fixing those problems.

"There's always going to be a certain level of domestic protectionism but countering that is this enourmous demand for food, both quantity and quality, and they can't possibly domestically supply that."

And the Indonesian trade minister Gita Wirjawan got in on the act.

"Germans consume about 50kg of beef, that's why they make the Mercedes Benz. But we're Indonesia, we've got to focus more on protein intake by way of fish, chicken and beef."

Image: NZ Herald.